KGMU’s first liver transplant patient, donor walk back home

LUCKNOW: The first patient to have undergone a liver transplant in the over 100-year-old history of King George’s Medical University (KGMU) and his organ donor wife, were both discharged from the medical university on Monday after a successful completion of the transplantation process.

KGMU’s surgical gastroenterology department is now preparing for a possible second liver transplant by the end of April. This will set the ball rolling for liver transplants to be actively done at the university. The transplant had taken place in the university on March 14 and was undertaken by an over 50-member expert team from both KGMU and Max Hospital Saket, New Delhi. All the resident doctors of the department worked without taking any off, including in Holi, to take care of the patient. The patient, a 50-year-old man from Rae Bareli, who was suffering from chronic liver disease, was donated the organ by his 48-year-old wife. Speaking to reporters on the day of discharge, the couple termed the liver transplant as a second chance for them to life.

It was earlier in February that the patient had visited the out-patient-department (OPD) of KGMU’s surgical gastroenterology department and was advised to get a liver transplant done.

“The patient was admitted for 10 daysbefore the surgery, and five days prior to the procedure, a special protocol was followed for him, where every minute of the patient was recorded as case history,” said head of the department, Prof Abhijit Chandra.

He said that while such a transplant would have cost the patient around Rs 40 lakhs to Rs 50 lakhs, at KGMU it was done in around Rs 7 lakhs to Rs 8 lakhs.